Kurt Darkholme (Earth-295)
; ; | Relatives = Azazel (father); Raven Darkholme (mother, deceased); Nils Styger (paternal half-brother, deceased); Linda (wife, deceased); Horror Show (maternal half-brother); | Universe = Earth-295 | BaseOfOperations = Formerly, Cavern-X, Sedona, Arizona, Earth-616 | Gender = Male | Height = 5'9" | Weight = 190 lbs. | Eyes = | Eyes2 = Yellow eyeballs, with no visible pupils | Hair = Black | UnusualSkinColour = Blue | UnusualFeatures = Blue fur completely covering him; Red tattoo over left eye; Prehensile tail; Three fingers (including thumb) on both hands; Only two (extra long) toes on each foot (and a strange back toe thing; Pointed ears; And fangs instead of canines. | Citizenship = German | MaritalStatus = Widower | Occupation = Adventurer | Education = | Origin = Mutant | PlaceOfBirth = Germany, Earth-295 | Creators = Scott Lobdell; Mark Waid; Roger Cruz; Steve Epting | First = X-Men: Alpha #1 | HistoryText = When Legion, the mentally unbalanced mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller, traveled back in time in an attempt to kill Magneto, he accidentally killed Xavier instead, creating a splinter universe known as the Age of Apocalypse. In that reality, mutants became the dominant species of the planet. Apocalypse rose to power enslaved humanity. Early Years Nightcrawler had a strained relationship with his mother Mystique. He also had a scarring experience that made him despise organized religion . Ultimately, Kurt was one of the many mutants who joined Magneto's rebel band known as the X-Men who sought to stop Apocalypse's dominion of the world. He often acted as the go-between in the X-Men's dealings with Mystique, whose friend Destiny could foresee the future. Nightcrawler was along side the X-Men in rescuing political prisoner Robert Kelly from one of Apocalypse's prison camps located in Mexico. He purchased data from his mother informing the X-Men that Apocalypse had relocated the Blue Area of the Moon to recover from one of his most recent battles. With the help of mass teleporter Blink, Nightcrawler and the X-Men were transported there. They were attacked by the Inhuman Royal Family, minions of Apocalypse and were captured. Blink helped free the X-Men, and they escaped back to Earth, killing the Inhuman leader Maximus in the process . Twilight of the Age of Apocalypse Nightcrawler remained mainstay with the X-Men as Apocalypse continued to overrun North America. Eventually, world tensions led to a cold war between Apocalypse and the Human High Council, which could have potentially ended in a complete nuclear holocaust. The Kelly Pact was signed, wherein Apocalypse promised to cease his grisly experiments against humans, however he had no intention of doing so. Nightcrawler accompanied his fellow X-Men in travelling to Seattle to stop Apocalypse's culling there. After defeating an army of Infinites and their leader Unus, the X-Men found the time displaced Bishop. They soon learned that Bishop came from another reality that was fractured by Legion killing Xavier in the past. Convinced that there was some truth behind Bishop's claims, Magneto dispatched X-Men to search for the items and people needed to restore his reality as well as squads to foil Apocalypse's various schemes . When Magneto explained his plan to his fellow X-Men, Nightcrawler visited Magneto in private and asked him if he truly believed in the "ravings of a madman". Magneto told Kurt how he remembered seeing a man resembling Bishop present on the day that Charles Xavier died, and was willing to bank on the possibility of a better world. He asked Nightcrawler to seek out his mother to help him find Destiny, to see if her precognitive abilities could confirm Bishop's claims . Nightcrawler knew that Destiny had sought refuge to a place called Avalon, secretly located in Antartica. He first violently confronted Angel, the wealthy mutant who would tell the right information for the right price. Worthington revealed that Kurt could find passage through the Ghost Dance, a church that operated out of an abandoned Stark Industries warehouse on the docks of Manhattan. Nightcrawler would lost his temper with both Worthington and later with Ghost Dance's leader John Proudstar when it was suggested that his mother, who now helped ferry people to Avalon, would loot and murder her charges. Nightcrawler forced Proudstar to allow him passage to Avalon aboard the submarine "Excalibur". Unknown to Kurt, his activities were monitored by minions of Apocalypse who sent his Pale Riders to follow him and destroy Avalon . The ship eventually suffered mechanical problems, forcing it to surface and accept aid from the first ship that would come to their rescue. That ship was captained Callisto who welcomed the crew and passengers of the sub aboard. Nightcrawler teleported away to watch the crew in secret and was horrified when Callisto callously dumped the voyagers into the ocean to die. Nightcrawler killed Callisto's crew and fought Calliso herself until the arrival of his mother Mystique, who killed Callisto for attacking her son . Reunited with his mother, Kurt was taken to her castle Cold Grey in Antarctica where he prepared for his trip to Avalon. When Mystique proved reluctant to accompany him, he pressed her if the rumors of her robbing and killing those she was supposed to bring to Avalon were true. She admitted to charging a fee to allow passage, angering Nightcrawler. However, seeing that she was shamed by this, he calmed down and convinced her to accompany him. They traveled to Avalon and were escorted by Cain Marko to Destiny's home. They asked Destiny to accompany them back to America, but she refused. Before Nightcrawler and Mystique could plan what to do next, Avalon was attacked by Dead Man Wade and Damask. Although Damask refused to destroy Avalon, Dead Man Wade had no such compunction and Nightcrawler was forced to kill him by teleporting Wade's head, decapitating him. However this was just a preliminary force and Nightcrawler, Mystique, Damask and the mutant known as Switchback prepared for the next wave of attackers . The counter-attack came in the form of the Shadow King who used his telepathic powers to wipe out almost everyone in Avalon. Nightcrawler helped Damask kill the Shadow King by utilizing his teleportation powers to bring them into the same dimensional plane as the Shadow King, allowing Damask to slay him. In the aftermath of the battle, with everyone she loved slaughtered by Apocalypse, Destiny agreed to accompany Nightcrawler back to America . They returned to the ruins of the Xavier estate to find that Magneto and a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal (Another key to saving the fractured reality) were stolen by Apocalypse. Both Nightcrawler and Destiny agreed to be part of the strike force to attack Apocalypse's citadel . Nightcrawler was part of the final battle which saw Bishop restoring his own reality, and Apocalypse being slain by Magneto . With nuclear holocaust threatening to rain down on all of them, Nightcrawler and the rest of the world were secretly be saved by Jean Grey utilizing the Phoenix Force to save the world, victory that Magneto would be credited for and the evil geneticist Sinister would blackmail Magneto into maintaining . The New Age of Apocalypse With Apocalypse dead, the X-Men worked to restore the United States. The X-Men become government sanctioned bounty hunters charged with hunting and capturing mutants that were loyal to Apocalypse so that they could be tried for war crimes, chief among them being Sinister. In his first mission with the X-Men in this capacity, Nightcrawler aided his teammates in capturing the Hellions . Nightcrawler and the X-Men were unaware that Magneto was being blackmailed by Sinister to stay away. When Weapon X (Logan) was welcomed back into the ranks of the X-Men, Nightcrawler almost killed him, unaware that Magneto had called for Logan to return. The team then quickly answered a call from Washington D.C. to stop a rampage caused by Amazon, Cannonball and Icarus . However, this turned out to be a cover to allow the Guthrie's sister Paige to capture Rogue and her son Charles as part of a revenge scheme against the X-Men. Nightcrawler and his comrades battled the Guthries until Magneto arrived and killed them, but not before Paige could reveal that Magneto had been secretly hiding Sinister . Magneto revealed the truth, and Nightcrawler followed his fellow X-Men to Liberty Island to face off against Sinister and his Sinister Six . During the fight, Nightcrawler, Dazzler and Gambit were swallowed up in Cloak's Darkforce Dimension. Only Nightcrawler and Dazzler escaped after Storm killed Cloak with a lightning strike. In the aftermath of the battle, Sinister was killed and Jean Grey was freed from his control. Magneto turned himself over to the authorities for his deception . X-Force Nightcrawler continued to serve with the X-Men, who continued to operate and maintain peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. After Weapon X became the new Apocalypse and plunged the world into darkness once again, Nightcrawler fought with the X-Men to stop his former comrade. When X-Force from Earth-616 came to the Age of Apocalypse he and the rest of his X-Men helped them gain the Celestial Lifeseed. He later returned to Earth-616 with Jean and Sabretooth to help X-Force fight their new Apocalypse. He stayed behind on Earth-616 vowing to make the refugees from Earth-295 living on Earth-616 like Iceman and Dark Beast pay for their crimes. Kurt joined X-Force for their mission to Avalon to rescue Fantomex. They were drawn into a conflict between the forces of Avalon and a future Jamie Braddock. They managed to rescue Fantomex and destroyed the future Jamie by killing his present version. With the help of X-Force, Kurt hunted down and killed his former friend Iceman and killed him. Kurt then asked Wolverine for help to hunt down and kill The Blob. He was interrupted by the prompt departure of Fantomex and Psylocke from the team. Wolverine and Kurt then went to look for Deadpool, finding him being accosted by a group of artificial soldiers called "The Omega Clan". These soldiers had false memories of X-Force killing their families in order to have a personal vendetta against them. After escaping the factory and returning to their hideout, X-Force were greeted by a new version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, led by Daken and featuring Kurt's mother, Mystique. They revealed that they had killed Fantomex and exploded their base. In the last minute however, Psylocke managed to enter the mind of Gateway and sent them into the future. The Brotherhood's plan was to brainwash Evan Sabahnur and turn him into their own Apocalypse. After returning from the future, X-Force infiltrated the Brotherhood's hideout, and Kurt captured Mystique. Mystique promised him she could give him the Blob who was also a member of the Brotherhood, if he released her and betrayed. Kurt complied and Mystique honoured their arrangement, tricking Blob into a room where Kurt managed to kill him by teleporting a shark into his stomach. For his betrayal however, he was attacked by E.V.A., Fantomex's sentient ship/second brain and she managed to injure him, despite his pleading with her that he was going to help X-Force again, now that the Blob was dead. He escaped, hoping that they would one day forgive him. Before leaving, he rescued Mystique from Evan Sabahnur teleported them both away. X-Termination He later started to spy the Earth-616's counterpart of his wife, being also tracked by Wolverine and a team of X-Men reluctant to help him on his want of revenge and kill. He escaped from their track, and track himself Dark Beast, in order to rejoins his home-reality. | Powers = Nightcrawler is a mutant. Teleportation: Nightcrawler can teleport by opening a portal into another dimension. He can teleport close to 2 miles at a time and carry 2 to 3 additional people although this leave a passenger feeling weak and nauseous. Nightcrawler also has developed a nasty trick in which he teleport a portions of a person's or robot's mass away, basically performing an amputation of that part. Flexible Bone Structure: Nightcrawler's bone structure allows him great flexibility. He can remain in a crouched position for a long time and perform contortionist type feats without causing any damage to his spine. Prehensile Tail: allowing him to grab onto objects with relative ease. His tail is strong enough to not only support his body weight but also lift an adult man completely off the ground. It is deft enough to fight with like a sword or blunt object. Superhuman Agility: Nightcrawler's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels beyond the human body's natural limits. Superhuman Reflexes: Nightcrawler's natural reaction time is enhanced to a level beyond the human body's natural limits. | Abilities = Nightcrawler is an Olympic-class acrobat and an expert with swords. | Strength = Nightcrawler possesses above average strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = Fencing foils | Notes = *The fact that he uses his mothers last name would suggest that she raised him. * Kurt used to have a close friendship with his former teammate Iceman. * In some point of his life Kurt was married to a girl named Linda until she was killed by The Blob. | Trivia = | Links = *Mystique (AoA), *Apocalypse (AoA) *Dead Man Wade *Switchback }} Category:Age of Apocalypse Category:Prehensile Tail Category:Teleporters Category:Wallcrawling Category:Superhuman Agility Category:Superhuman Reflexes Category:Camouflage Category:Night Vision Category:Neyaphem Category:Yellow Eyeballs Category:No visible Irises or Pupils Category:Demonic Form Category:Fencing Category:Post-M-Day Mutants (The 198)